It’s hard enough to be sick or need surgery or hospitalization. But, for the past few decades, the bill for health care services often has added insult to injury as consumers were blindsided with soaring and unexpected costs. Now, a study co-led by a University of Massachusetts Amherst health services researcher is examining the impact of recent federal efforts to make health care costs more transparent and affordable.

Despite a long history of traditional medicinal use in the United States, the collection, consumption and efficacy of the peculiar forest plant aptly named ghost pipe, scientific name Monotropa uniflora, remains a mystery. Now, with social media and the internet driving a resurgence in the harvest and economic trade of the parasitic species — which appears strangely white because it is devoid of chlorophyl — a research team from Penn State has taken the first step toward documenting its new status.

East Hanover, NJ – May 2, 2025 – The latest National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) report shows that the labor market appears to be in a holding pattern for people with disabilities and people without disabilities, as the economy slows and uncertainty around the tariffs continues. nTIDE is issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability.

The Haenyeo, a group of all-female divers from the Korean island of Jeju, are renowned for their ability to dive in frigid waters without the aid of breathing equipment — even while pregnant. A study publishing on May 2 in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports shows that the divers’ remarkable abilities are due to both training and genetic adaptation, including gene variants associated with cold tolerance and decreased blood pressure. The divers also showed pronounced bradycardia, or slowing of the heart rate, when they dived, but this trait is likely due to a lifetime of training, not genetics.  

Researchers have examined a mummy from a small Austrian village and found a mix of unusual materials has been used to preserve the body. Stuffed with twigs, wood chips, and treated with zinc chloride, the mummy’s torso showed little signs of decay. It is the first report on this embalming method. Further sophisticated examination also allowed the team to identify the mummy as a local parish vicar who lived in the region around 300 years ago.